Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

Registration is now open for the 2012 Inuvik Petroleum Show. The annual tradeshow and conference is taking place June 18 to 20.

More than 500 participants are expected for the show, which is now in its second decade.

A forum to discuss issues in the oil and gas industry, the three-day event will include panel sessions and keynote addresses from leading political and media personalities, organizers said.

Latour trial adjourned

Hugues Latour's trial in Inuvik Territorial Court will be delayed until May after the Crown filed an adjournment application because one of its two witnesses did not make it on the flight from Edmonton in time for Tuesday morning.

Latour, 38, is charged with forcible entry, common assault, breach of terms and conditions. He also faces seven charges in NWT Supreme Court including sexual assault and making child pornography. A trial date has not been set for those charges. He has been in custody since his arrest in October.

Latour taught Grades 5 and 6 at Sir Alexander Mackenzie School and worked as Samuel Hearne Secondary School's French immersion teacher from 2007 to 2010.

- Katherine Hudson

Battle of curling Koes

Jamie Koe's hopes to win Canada's most prestigious men's curling title were dashed by his brother Kevin on Saturday afternoon.

Team Alberta, led by skip Kevin Koe, scored big in the later ends to post a 10-6 victory over Team NWT/Yukon, with Yellowknife's Jamie Koe at the helm, at the Tim Horton's Brier in Saskatoon. With a 7-4 record, it was the first time Team NWT/Yukon had earned a spot in the Brier playoffs.

Team Alberta, the 2010 Brier champions, went on to win 8-6 over Team Manitoba on Saturday evening to advance to Sunday's championship against Ontario.

Jamie Koe's NWT rink faced Manitoba in the bronze medal game, also on Sunday. The outcomes of those games were not available prior to press deadline.

- NNSL staff

Earthquake in Norman Wells

A 5.1-magnitude earthquake was detected southwest of Norman Wells on March 2, but there have been no reports of local residents feeling the shake or of any damage.

"It couldn't be much of a quake," said deputy mayor Frank Pope. "I haven't heard a thing about it."

The earthquake occurred at 4:29 p.m., according to Natural Resources Canada.

- Nathalie Heiberg-Harrison

Policy workshop in Enterprise

The Hamlet of Enterprise will be holding a policy development workshop for councillors and administration on March 18.

The hamlet currently has some policies, but they were developed when the community was politically a settlement. It became a hamlet about five years ago.

- Paul Bickford

Trade show still growing

Thebacha/Fort Smith

The Fort Smith Trade Show continues to grow.

The seventh annual version of the trade show is set for April 28.

As of the middle of last week, only three of the planned 60 booths were still available to rent. The rest have been taken by 44 organizations and companies.

Last year, 55 booths were rented by 49 organizations and companies.

"Every year it has grown since it started," said Linda Martin, trade show organizer and the general manager of Thebacha Business Development Services.

Martin said, depending on how fast the remaining three booths are rented and if there is further demand, four more booths may be added at Centennial Arena.

She noted there will be a number of new exhibitors this year, including Rusty Raven Gallery & Gift, Those Darn Li'l Donuts, Closet of Dreams, the Fort Smith Ski Club and Pelican Rapids Inn, along with the Metis-Dene Development Fund from Yellowknife.

Closet of Dreams will also be presenting a fashion show.

The JBT Jiggers from Joseph Burr Tyrrell School will perform.

And, the Town of Fort Smith will officially launch its rebranding at the trade show.

Last year, 660 members of the public attended the trade show, which charges no admission.

- Paul Bickford

Sparks flying

Ikaahuk/Sachs Harbour

Approximately a dozen students attended Sparks, a youth cooking class, on March 1 at the Ajgaliaq Centre in Sachs Harbour.

From 3 to 5 p.m. they made peanut butter Rice Krispies squares in all shapes and sizes to take home to their families, as well as tuna melts. The students also made bannock, which was saved for the Youth and Elders program later that evening.

The Sparks program runs once or twice a week, depending on scheduling at the Ajgaliaq Centre, according to Doreen Carpenter, recreation co-ordinator. It generally runs on Tuesdays and Fridays.

- Nathalie Heiberg-Harrison

Pancake breakfast at museum

Thebacha/Fort Smith

A free pancake breakfast for those buying memberships in Fort Smith's Northern Life Museum and Cultural Centre is set for March 31.

The breakfast will take place from 9 to 11 a.m. at the museum.

- Paul Bickford

Odd Squad to visit

Tetlit'Zheh/Fort McPherson

Members of the Odd Squad Productions Society, a nonprofit organization founded by Vancouver Police Department officers, will be meeting with students in Fort McPherson this month to discuss the dangers of drug addictions and gangs.

They are scheduled to arrive in the community at 11 a.m. on March 27 and present at 1:30 p.m.

A sporting event is also scheduled for 3:30 p.m. which is set to include members of the production team and students.

The Odd Squad is also scheduled to make presentations in Ulukhaktok on March 26, Tuktoyaktuk and Aklavik on March 28, and Inuvik on March 29 and 30.

- Nathalie Heiberg-Harrison

Enterprise appealing census

Enterprise

The Hamlet of Enterprise is appealing the findings of the 2011 census.

Statistics Canada enumerated 87 people in the community last year.

At a council meeting on March 5, Peter Groenen, the senior administrative officer in Enterprise, said the hamlet knows the census figure is not correct just from doing household counts for a municipal election in December.

Groenen said he has e-mailed Statistics Canada, and the federal agency has sent back information on the appeal process.

The hamlet has until December to file an appeal.

Groenen said information will be sent to Statistics Canada to show the hamlet's population was undercounted by as much as a dozen.

"Twelve people does sound like very many, but 12 people in less than 100 is a pretty high percentage," he said, noting many funding agencies base their support on population.

The first numbers from the 2011 census were released on Feb. 8. The census of 2006 enumerated 97 people in Enterprise.

- Paul Bickford

Cash for green initiatives

Tuktoyaktuk

Dan Slavik, a representative of the World Wildlife Fund, was in Tuktoyaktuk on Feb. 27 to present Mangilaluk School with a Green Community School Grant.

The grant for $5,000 will help buy recycling bins for each classroom, as well as outdoor spaces.

The WWF awards grants to schools across Canada twice a year. The money helps fund programs that reduce impacts on the environment, connect students with nature and inspire communities to be leaders in environmental protection. At the end of March, Chief Julius School in Fort McPherson will be awarded a grant by the WWF for the Mackenzie Delta Youth Ecological Awareness Project. The funds will help buy film equipment so that students can film mini-documentaries on local environmental issues.

- Nathalie Heiberg-Harrison

Science fair rescheduled

Tsiigehtchic/Arctic Red River

The science fair at Chief Paul Niditchie School has been pushed back a week to allow students more time to complete their projects. It is now scheduled for the afternoon of March 14. The community is welcome to attend.

- Nathalie Heiberg-Harrison

Two gold, two silver and one bronze

Ulukhaktok/Holman

Five students at Helen Kalvak School returned from the NWT-North Regional Skills Competition in Inuvik last month with medals.

Elliot Malgokak, Brandon Okheena and Alexander Akhiatak finished with gold, silver and bronze, respectively, in the small engine repair competition. Laura Akoaksion won gold for cultural sewing and Kayla Kaodloak won silver for hairstyling. Inuvik students finished the competition with seven medals, while Paulatuk won three, Tuktoyaktuk won one and Fort McPherson won one.

- Nathalie Heiberg-Harrison

Students get active in Paulatuk

Paulatuk

Students at Angik School will be learning traditional games from March 13 to 15 when Donald Kuptana visits the community from Inuvik.

At the end of March some of the school's students will travel to Tuktoyaktuk for the Beaufort Delta Education Council's annual sports festival, according to principal Russell Hancock.

- Nathalie Heiberg-Harrison

Fun with puppets

Lli Goline/Norman Wells

French students at Mackenzie Mountain School in Norman Wells took part in a puppetry workshop from Jan. 23 to 27.

Natalie Labossiere, a Yellowknife artist, worked with students in all the Grade 1 to 9 classes, introducing them to the art of puppet making and helping them make their own. Later, the classes presented puppet plays with their own hand-built characters.

- Nathalie Heiberg-Harrison

Handgames tournament coming up

Behchoko/Rae

The deadline to register for the Canadian Aboriginal Men's Handgames Tournament is March 15.

Eight players for each team, as well as one alternate, are allowed. The event is scheduled to run from March 16 to 18 in Behchoko, and the entry fee per team is $1,350. Players must be at least 16 years old to compete. For more information, contact George Mackenzie, Bruce Chocolate or Phillip Mackenzie.

- Nathalie Heiberg-Harrison

More water line problems in Cape Dorset

Cape Dorset residents were out of water for a few hours as the water pipeline froze overnight March 7.

The secondary line froze and was fixed in the afternoon of March 8, according to Olayuk Akesuk, the hamlet's senior administrative officer.

The alternate pipeline was installed last year by the Department of Community and Government Services to bypass a frozen and cracked three-inch water pipe.

The secondary pipe also froze on Feb. 8

- Jeanne Gagnon

Kayak-building workshop

Mittimatalik/Pond Inlet

Junior and senior high school students spent most of last month building a kayak in Pond Inlet.

Meeka Qamaniq, principal at Nasivvik School, said the school held a kayak-building workshop for Grades 7 to 12 students from Feb. 6 to March 5. One elder showed the students how to build a kayak, she said, and the students then used those newly-learned skills to craft a kayak out of wood. The students would work a couple of hours daily on the project, said Qamaniq.

"(It was important) so that students will know because some students (have) never seen kayak building," she said.

She said the workshop is an annual event.

- Jeanne Gagnon

New economic development officer in Qikiqtarjuak

Qikiqtarjuak/Broughton Island

Mike Cook is Qikiqtarjuaq's new economic development officer, and says he is looking forward to serving the community he lives in.

Cook arrived in the community from Moncton, N.B. at the start of the school year, as his wife works there as a teacher. He started as the EDO on Feb. 27.

"I am looking forward to being able to help the community and the community residents. It's a very nice community and I am happy to be here to help out," he said.

He added he will follow the community development plan and hopefully show some growth over the next year.

Cook said it's his first time in the North.

- Jeanne Gagnon

Cod fishing in Kimmirut

Kimmirut/Lake Harbour

Qaqqalik School students will spend an afternoon at Soper Lake fishing cod next week.

Principal Ron Pate said during the week of March 19, different classes will spend half a day at the lake fishing cod, an important annual event because it's part part of their culture and they learn from the elders.

"It's tradition and it's country food and this is very nutritious. It is much more than store-bought food," he said. "It's very important for them to learn that because they need to pass those skills to their children, so the tradition and culture is not lost."

- Jeanne Gagnon

Anti-bullying activities

Kinngait/Cape Dorset

Pink shirts could be seen in the hallways and classrooms of Clyde River's Sam Pudlat School on Feb. 29 as the school was taking a stand against bullying.

Principal David Webber said the elementary students talked, wrote and drew pictures about bullying as part of various activities to raise awareness of the issue and how it impacts people during the week of Feb. 27.

On Feb. 29, Pink Shirt Day, more than half the school's students and staff, including Webber, wore pink to take a stand against bullying - Webber described it as a "significant stand" against bullying. The school has rules with consequences if anyone is caught bullying but those measure do not necessarily stop the problem. The greatest way to stop it is through peer pressure, said Webber.

"Bullying is a problem everywhere. I don't think it's any worse here than it has been in other areas of Canada but that doesn't make it right," he said. "I see a lot of children who are impacted by being victimized by a bully. Instead of enjoying their school life and coming to school happy and wanting to learn, they'd rather stay home. It does have an impact on a school. I feel the only real way of combating that is through education."

Students were served cupcakes with pink icing on March 5, as well.

- Jeanne Gagnon

Wildlife woes

Qamanittuaq/Baker Lake

Numerous wolf sightings were reported in and around the community of Baker Lake in late March and early February. One report had a wolf shot after killing a dog and entering a home in Baker.

- Darrell Greer

Three hunters rescued safely

Iglulik

Three hunters are safely back in Iglulik after being successfully rescued off a drifting piece of ice in the Foxe Basin.

A helicopter picked up the three adult males, who had drifted six to eight miles from the floe edge further south in the basin, at about 5:30 p.m. on March 4, said Celestino Uyarak, the hamlet's assistant administrative officer. He added the men were experienced floe-edge hunters who had left Iglulik on March 3 to hunt seals at the floe edge in the Foxe Basin.

"They were cold but health-wise fine," he said. "They had to leave their two snowmobiles and hunting equipment as well. We didn't want them to stay out another night; it's extremely cold (on a) floe edge, especially in the open water area."

Uyarak said he received a call from a family member of one of the hunters at about 9:15 p.m. on March 3, who told him one hunter had called by satellite phone to say they were drifting on a piece of ice.

"As they (hunters) were trying to head back, it was getting dark, they noticed this ice was drifting," said Uyarak.

The search team gathered close to 15 minutes later to decide what to do, with the help of experienced hunters who have knowledge on the movement of ice and water, on ice thickness and the area, said Uyarak.

He said they sent a team to the area, which noticed the snow and ice had drifted a little further than expected. Upon the return of the first team, another one was sent the morning of March 4. It reported an airlift would be necessary to pick up the hunters, said Uyarak. A helicopter arrived in Iglulik from Hall Beach at 4 p.m. and picked up a resident to help pinpoint the location of the hunters, he added.

Uyarak said everyone made it safely back at around 5:30. p.m.

- Jeanne Gagnon

E-mentoring in Hall Beach

Sanirajak/Hall Beach

Students will get the opportunity to participate in a program where they receive mentoring from a professional via the Internet. Arnaqjuaq School principal Michael Westley said the program co-ordinator of the DreamCatcher Mentoring program will visit the school on March 7 and 8 to provide more information and sign up any students interested in the program, which matches high school students with mentors in a particular career choice for about two to five months.

They will communicate online, exchange ideas on how to get a job in that field, the education needed as well as the good and bad aspects of the job, for instance.

"Here, students don't have as many positive role models or people they can speak to about what they must do to be successful," said Westley. "So to have a mentor, someone who can give them extra guidance as they move forward as they try to succeed, graduate, for example, from school and then go on to other things, we felt that would be a positive thing."

- Jeanne Gagnon

Raising funds

Kangiqliniq/Rankin Inlet

Members of the Nunavut Arctic College student council in Rankin Inlet are holding a raffle to raise funds to help those who lost their belongings and were left homeless in the fire in Iqaluit this past month.

Many of those affected by the fire were adult students attending Arctic College and their families.

The raffle will be drawn on March 20, featuring top prizes of a 12-foot by 16-foot cabin, 45 gallons of gas and a sled that can be used for traditional hunting.

As of last week, student council members were seeking donations of items such as a Coleman stove, lantern, sleeping bag, foam mattress, trap, grub box and naptha, among others, to fully equip the sled.

The council members hope to raise $20,000 from the raffle to donate to the fire victims.

Members of the camp cook program in Rankin also helped raise donations for the families by holding a student bake sale this past Friday.

The event featured homemade goodies such as cinnamon buns, brownies, date squares, muffins, buns, bread and cookies.

All funds raised at the sale will be donated to the Red Cross for the victims of the fire in Iqaluit.

- Darrell Greer

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.